Dish

Pomegranate Roasted Grape and Blue Cheese

Bruschetta with Salted Caramel Walnuts

The flavours and textures in these are a match made in

heaven. Sweet, tart and salty, soft and crunch – every

bite is a magic combination.

½ cup sugar

1¼ cups fresh walnut halves

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon

pomegranate molasses

2 tablespoons olive oil

freshly ground black pepper

350 grams red

seedless grapes

30 dried or 8 fresh figs

1 small ciabatta loaf, sliced into

15 pieces about 1cm thick

300 grams soft blue cheese

2 cups wild rocket leaves

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Put the sugar in a clean saucepan with 1 tablespoon of water and

whisk to combine.

Put the walnuts on a baking paper lined oven dish and cook the

sugar and water over a medium high heat.

Whisk to dissolve the sugar then don’t stir again as it turns to

white crystals then transforms into pale, golden amber. Pour

immediately over the walnuts and sprinkle with sea salt, then

leave to cool until hard.

Put the grapes on an oven tray and whisk one-tablespoon of olive

oil with the pomegranate molasses. Drizzle over the grapes and

season with sea salt and black pepper. Roast for 20–25 minutes

until just starting to split.

Chop the dried figs in half and remove the stalks (if using fresh

figs, cut into quarters). Heat a grill plate (or you can use a large

frying pan) and toast the ciabatta on both sides until golden.

Slice the cheese into 15 pieces (or to match the size of the grilled

ciabatta). Toss the rocket leaves with the remaining olive oil

whisked with the balsamic vinegar. Top each bruschetta with

blue cheese, rocket leaves, figs and roasted grapes. Break up the

walnuts (give them a bit of a bang with the wooden spoon or a

blunt knife) and add on top. Makes 15 bruschetta

Prawn (or Crayfish) Brioche with Chilli Lime Mayo

To me these are the perfect spring picnic food to enjoy with a
glass of crisp white; they can be served lunch size (like these) or
divided up into sliders to serve with drinks.

700 grams cooked king prawns
or cooked crayfish meat
2 cos lettuces
6 brioche buns
100 grams butter
2 avocados, halved and sliced
1 teaspoon chilli flakes,
to garnish

Chilli lime mayo

1⅓ cups good-quality

egg mayonnaise

finely grated zest of 2 limes

2 teaspoons American

mustard

½ teaspoon chilli flakes

2 teaspoons sriracha sauce

sea salt

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Chilli lime mayo: Whisk the mayonnaise with the lime zest,
mustard, chilli flakes and sriracha sauce.

Chop the prawns in half and toss through a quarter of the chilli
lime mayo. Season to taste with sea salt.

Trim the bases from the lettuces and chop large leaves, leaving
the smaller leaves whole.

Cut the brioche buns in half and butter the cut sides of both
halves. Heat the rolls in the oven for 2–3 minutes. Spoon the
chilli lime mayo on to the bases and top with lettuce, avocado
and prawns.

Drizzle with remaining mayo and sprinkle with a little extra chilli
flakes and sea salt and top with the brioche bun lid. Serves 6

COOK’S NOTE: I left a few of my grapes attached to the

stems for aesthetic purposes, but for ease of eating I

recommend removing most of them.

80 DISH